Want to help veterans? Be a volunteer van driver
Courtesy photo Disabled American Veterans vans such as this are operated in North Idaho to take local veterans to the V.A. Medical Center in Spokane. The program is seeking volunteer drivers in Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint.
COEUR d'ALENE — The Disabled American Veterans van program is looking for a few good volunteers.
The local Fort Sherman Chapter 9 of the nonprofit is seeking volunteer drivers to take veterans to and from their appointments at the V.A. Medical Center in Spokane.
Bob Hunt, a Post Falls resident and DAV chapter adjutant, said the local chapter organizes fundraisers to buy the vans. Last year it put its fifth van in service last summer and purchased it for $32,431.
"Patients are often elderly, crippled, blind, on legal drugs or have outlived their relatives," Hunt said. "We give them free rides."
Hunt drove a DAV van every Wednesday for five years.
"It was a most-fulfilling experience," he said. "There are probably 1,000 stories riding those vans."
Hunt said his first passenger was a veteran captured by the Japanese in Manila in World War II.
"(His wounds) really shook me at first," Hunt said. "Later, I learned to accept it and listened to his stories of being a prisoner. Another young man was a Gulf War veteran with brain cancer. He never complained."
There are other stories of unwavering courage and strength.
"One veteran (a World War II bomber crewman) opened his own doors, no matter how difficult it was," Hunt said. "He told me that he lived alone and he had to be able to do these ordinary things. So when he got out or in, I just waited patiently as it would take him three times longer than others. No one minded."
There are 16 total DAV vans in Idaho that travel to V.A. Medical Centers in Spokane, Boise, Walla Walla and Salt Lake City.
"We provide the volunteer drivers and a paid disabled veteran to work 6 hours a day, five days a week to schedule riders, drivers and maintenance," Hunt said. "The V.A. provides the insurance, licensing fuel and maintenance.
"When I drove, the V.A. gave volunteer drivers free sandwiches at the canteen for lunch. How much better can it get?"
Volunteer drivers are needed in Coeur d'Alene and Sandpoint. Those interested should contact coordinator Jeannie Kyle at the Spokane VA Medical Center at 509-434-7019.